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Monday, August 20, 2012

Minnie Monday: Accessories

This week, my "minnies" will celebrate their 11th birthday. It seems like just yesterday that they were little tiny girls with little tiny voices and little tiny smocked dresses. When you're a new parent and people tell you to treasure every moment, you nod your head and say that you will. But no one tells parents how quickly time truly does pass. So here it is from me. Enjoy every moment while your children are little. Each stage is such a brief photograph in time that it should be treasured and lived to the fullest!

Although Natalia and Alexia are now bordering on non-minnie territory, they'll always be my minnies in my mind. In many ways, some of you have seen my girls grow up as this blog evolves. Who knows, maybe you'll be reading about us setting up their preppy pink and green dorm room 7 years.

When I asked the girls what they wanted to share for the second installment of Minnie Monday, they said that it should have been obvious to me. Natalia said, "Mom, we talked about fashion last week, so this week we have to talk about accessories."

Mustaches are the latest in tween fashion. No I'm not talking about early blooming young men. Fake mustaches are everywhere. Natalia and Alexia wear this fake mustache necklace from Forever 21 almost every day. It always amuses them to pretend to have a mustache and use a silly voice. It amuses me that my minnies still like to play and pretend! The girls requested a photo booth at their upcoming birthday party this weekend, with lots of mustache props, of course!

Tweens love bracelets, too! Borrowing a style strategy from some of the biggest fashionistas, my minnies love to stack their bracelets, the more the merrier. Right now, some friendship bracelets and bands from Vineyard Vines and a walk for Cystic Fibrosis are on heavy rotation. In a future installment, Alexia will show you how she made her preppy pink and green bracelet made using tabs from soda cans.

The minnies' wrists are just too big for some of J. Crew's jewelry, but too small for some of my bangles that fall off their hands. Luckily, many bracelets can be custom made to size, like the rope bracelets the girls are designing with my friends at Knot:ical.

Although Natalia and Alexia choose preppy, classic, and conservative clothing, one area where they tend to get a little silly is with earrings! The more sparkle and dangle, the better. Alexia had an ingenious solution to her overflowing jewelry box; she used a scrap of fabric from her sewing supplies to make her own earring holder. She simply backed a piece of scrap fabric, turned under the edges, and attached the earrings to the fabric.

Ever since my minnies were babies, I've always taken great care with their hair. The twincesses were practically born with a bow in their heads! A few years ago at around age 8, the girls decided that didn't like to wear bows in their hair anymore. It was a devastating blow to me. I held on to their vast collection of bows, and I'm glad that I did. Both girls now choose to wear the same bows they wore as little girls, albeit in different ways. Instead of high pigtails with two bows, the girls may choose to pull back a little section of hair and attach a bow. I attribute this trend to the cheerleader factor. The girls are participating in Poms this year and see the high school girls with huge bows in their hair.

Natalia and Alexia also love braids, especially French braids and fishtail braids. Here's Natalia modeling her hair that is braided into the shape of a heart!

Finally, the minnies love their shoes! Sometimes they choose an entire outfit based on a pair of shoes. That's not too far off base of some outfits that I choose. (I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a pair of pink polka dot espadrilles in Lilly Pulitzer's Endless Summer Sale, but that's another story!) Both girls are at a point where they can wear shoes in ladies and children's sizes.

Alexia changed the laces of her Chuck Taylors with some cute houndstooth laces from Target. It's a fun and easy way to change the look of a pair of shoes.

Many of the trends the Minnies follow are their own interpretations of things that they have seen me do. Others, like the mustache necklace, are silly fun for children. I love their emerging style and am happy to see them growing into such lovely young ladies. Pardon me if I'm a bit nostalgic this week, with their 11th birthday.

Content on this blog is owned & copyrighted by Bethany Brown, including all comments & messages. Unless specifically stated, I have not been compensated by companies to mention their products. I simply like the items and wanted to share them.